source Human Rights Watch www.hrw.org (Beirut) - The United Arab Emirates attorney general should immediately drop all charges against five pro-democracy activists to halt their trial, Human Rights Watch said today. The charges of "humiliating" top officials relate solely to the defendants' peaceful use of speech to criticize the UAE governmen […]

June 5, 2011After 21 hearings, Chris O'Donnell, the Australian chief executive of Dubai's major developer, Nakheel, came to the defence of his former colleagues Matthew Joyce and Marcus Lee. Mr Joyce and Mr Lee are accused of profiting from the sale of land that had been earmarked for a colossal high-rise development, which was to include the futur […]

Dubai June 7, 2011 Nakheel said on Wednesday that its CEO Chris O'Donnell had left the company "after completing his contract terms". O'Donnell, an Australian who joined the developer in 2006, said he had decided to leave Nakheel following five years spent with the company, the statement added. O'Donnell has overseen a traumatic time […]

Dubai property developer Damac said on Tuesday it had filed an international arbitration case against Egypt over a land dispute and the conviction of its chairman and owner, Hussain Sajwani.A Cairo court last week sentenced Sajwani in his absence to jail and ordered him to pay a $40.5 million fine in connection with his 2006 purchase of land at Egypt's […]

Investors in Dubai Palm Jumeirah’s Golden Mile complex will this week serve the developer behind the project with a legal ultimatum to hand over their units or issue them with a refund.Up to ten investors in the luxury complex plan to issue Souq Residences with legal notice in a bid to force a resolution to a dispute that has been ongoing for more than a yea […]

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Archive for the ‘Dubai Justice’ Category

A dream job in the Dubai property market turned into a nightmare for Marcus Lee when he was imprisoned on a false bribery charge. In a new book, he describes how he survived five years of living hell, sustained by the support of his wife.

Extract of the Book:

JULIE: I spoke to Matt Joyce’s wife, Ange. She said she had a number for Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, the chairman of Dubai World, Nakheel’s parent company, and she would call him to try to get information. She seemed just as mystified as I was.

MARCUS: On the night of January 28, Matt and I were put in the back of a blacked-out 4WD. We started to ask each other questions when one of the Emiratis said, “No talking.” Speaking in a low murmur, I said I was totally confused. Matt dropped a bombshell. He said, “I helped this company open up a trust account.” I said, “What? Which company?” He said, “I helped Prudentia to open up an escrow account, because they couldn’t open up a bank account in Dubai.”

What A Wonderful World! Get Raped In Dubai And You’ll Serve 16 Months In Prison

A court in Dubai has sentenced a young Norwegian woman, Marte Deborah Dalelv, to 16 months in jail after she brought charges of rape against a colleague. Dismissing her allegations, the court saw fit instead to find her guilty of drinking alcohol and wanting the sex that she alleged was forced upon her. Meanwhile she was fired by her Qatar-born employer, the interior designer Wissam al Mana, who is otherwise known as Janet Jackson’s latest husband. …….continue reading original source FORBES

How does it feel to be locked up for decades for a crime you never committed? What happens to the lives of the family you leave behind who have to then fend for themselves? What do you do if no one is interested in the evidence which would prove your innocence? What if your sentence is so long that your only way out is in a box?

This is a grave reality for British nationals Safi Qurashi & Peter Margetts who are amongst approx 20 Foreign Expats (US citizen Zack Shahin) currently on a Hunger strike in Dubai’s Central Jail in protest over the fact that they are being denied access to justice. They are risking their own lives so others do not suffer. For some of them it has been over a month and the signs of danger are showing especially for those already suffering from illnesses such as Blood pressure and Diabetes.

Radha Stirling and colleague join foreigners convicted of financial crimes without the ability to present a legal defence.

UAE convicts Safi Qarashi, Peter Margetts, Christopher Renehan, Zack Shahin and Olivier Loeb are amongst the many prisoners hunger striking in UAE prisons. They are protesting the injustices of the legal system when dealing particularly with financial crimes. Even where the evidence clearly proves innocence, prosecutions are still successful and sentences extremely lengthy in comparison to international standards.

In cases where a security cheque is wrongfully presented and even where it is post dated, the circumstances are not taken into consideration by the Courts and one will be automatically issued with a lengthy prison sentence of three years per cheque. In many cases, this has amounted to an effective life sentence. In most other countries, these matters would be considered by civil courts and would not be criminalised. We are now encouraging the UAE to seriously review the laws in relation to bounced cheques particularly but also to review the criminal law procedures overall so that it eventually becomes possible to encounter a fair trial whereby actual evidence is properly considered by the Courts.

We are therefore supporting all prisoners in the UAE who are presently on hunger strike by submitting to it ourselves.

We hope that the severity of the hunger strikes proves enough incentive to review the laws in relation to bounced cheques and other financial crimes.

A girl whose property developer dad is in Dubai Central Prison for bouncing cheques has expanded her campaign to free her father to help kids whose parents are in Dubai’s jail for financial crimes.

Despite claiming to have paid off the money Qurashi, CEO of Premier Real Estate in Dubai, which bought the UK and Moscow islands on The World development, remains incarcerated until a civil appeal is resolved.

Nakheel former CEO Chris O’Donnell who left Nakheel last June after five years, has won a $3 million claim against the Dubai real estate developer for breach of contract, the Dubai World Tribunal ruled Thursday.

Chris O’Donnell was awarded $ 3 million in bonus compensation in the judgement.

Judge Anthony Evans made the award at the Dubai World Tribunal held at the DIFC Courts.

Danielle Spencer, 31, who worked in real estate in Dubai , was given a month’s sentence after a court rejected her claim she never slept with Toby Carroll, a New Zealander

Miss Gomez was also jailed in Dubai for two months, one for sex outside marriage and one for threatening to kill Miss Spencer. The two women are said to have made friends while in custody.

Lawyers for Miss Spencer, a former lap-dancer from Hull, and Mr Carroll, an analyst for HSBC, said they would appeal. Judge Ali Attiyah Sa’ad ordered all three to be deported after serving their sentences.

Consensual sex outside marriage is banned in the United Arab Emirates, and regularly punished by jail terms. The emirate generally operates a “don’t ask” policy, allowing thousands of unmarried couples to take holidays and even live together without interference, as long as the police are not alerted.

Mark T. Townsend was the victim of an unsubstantiated libel complaint. But under Dubai’s criminal libel laws, proceedings were kept pending against him for 22 months during which he was unable to work or leave the country.

Townsend is a former business editor of Khaleej Times. After he left in 2009, allegations of mismanagement at the paper were published on the website www.complaintsboard.com . The allegations were published under a username that resembled Townsend’s surname – but Townsend denied having anything to do with the web posting.

On May 30, British journalist Mark T. Townsend was acquitted in a criminal libel case that had kept him a virtual prisoner in Dubai for nearly two years.

The case arose from a criminal defamation complaint lodged against him by the managers of one of Dubai’s main English language newspapers, Khaleej Times.

After 21 hearings, Chris O’Donnell, the Australian chief executive of Dubai’s major developer, Nakheel, came to the defence of his former colleagues Matthew Joyce and Marcus Lee.

Mr Joyce and Mr Lee are accused of profiting from the sale of land that had been earmarked for a colossal high-rise development, which was to include the futuristic construction known as the Atrium, but which has never got off the ground. In a very Australianstory, the two men are accused of deceiving the buyer of the plot, the Gold Coast developer Sunland, and harming Nakheel, Dubai Waterfront’s parent company.

Since their arrest in January 2009, Mr Joyce and Mr Lee have maintained they are innocent. Their passports confiscated, neither allowed to work, they are trapped with their families in a city where food prices are soaring and rent remains expensive despite the property crash. If convicted, the men could face long jail terms in the Middle East.

Mr O’Donnell’s testimony may be crucial in proving the sale and value of Plot D17 was approved by Nakheel’s executive committee and there was no deception. Mr Joyce was Dubai Waterfront’s managing director and Mr Lee its commercial manager.

What Mr O’Donnell said in court directly contradicted the Dubai prosecutor’s claims that Nakheel lost millions as a result of the $60 million sale.

The drama began when Mr Joyce and Mr Lee were arrested amid the global financial crisis and the Dubai government’s crackdown on fraud. Dozens of other senior executives were arrested and charged with fraud in 20The Australian men were locked in prison for nine months, and released in October 2009 once they each raised $295,000 bail. While Dubai police allege the Australian men profited from the sale of the land, testimony from Mohammad Mustafa, of the Dubai government’s Financial Audit Department, concluded that Mr Lee did not receive any money; nor did he benefit or gain from the transactions.

A thief breaks into your house, tries to steal your
belongings and whilst he is trying to steal you wake up, catch him and
lock him in one of your rooms and call the police. The thief, knowing
that he is in trouble also calls the police. The police arrive at your
home.

Now there are laws that have been broken:

1. Law says it is a crime to lock someone up in a room without their will
2. Law also says that stealing is a crime
3. Law states that breaking into a house is a crime
4. Law says lying to the police is a crime
5. Law says you are allowed to protect yourself against a thief.

Imagine that when the police arrive you, the homeowner are
arrested, because of Law Number 1 whereas all other laws are ignored.
Imagine when arrested the police only ask you that did you lock a man
in your house and upon saying “yes” you are sent to prison. Imagine the
police, prosecution and courts never asking the thief what he was doing
in the house! Imagine you have CCTV proving he broke into your house,
you have several eye witnesses who say they saw the thief breaking into
your house. Imagine you have have proof that he had already loaded his
car with your belongings which he had stolen and was about to get away,
but the judge refused to allow you to present these facts, denied your
witnesses and never once questioned the thief if his story was true.

Imagine the thief getting away with his crime and stealing your belongings and you get sentenced to 7 years in prison!

Can you imagine this? Is this justice? Does a modern society
with a legal system call this a fair judicial process? For 11 months my
family have been trying to find someone in Dubai who can understand
this point, but because the courts are so heavily in favour of
sentencing those accused of bouncing cheques no consideration was given
to my evidence. All we hear is that the law has been broken, we don’t
care about the reasons behind it , you signed the cheque? Do they mean
they don’t care that someone tried to cheat me, they don’t care that
someone lied to the police, prosecutor and judge, they don’t care that
maybe the bank or at least one of its staff acted fraudulently, they
don’t care if a lawyer broke the law, they don’t care about all the
evidence I have to support my claim, they don’t care about the fact
that my cheques are not bounced cheques!!!!!

We have heard the prosecutor say why didn’t I let him steal
from me and let him get away and then I should have called the police!
Really! You see a crime and don’t stop it, is this the poicy of crime
prevention or has crime prevention become a crime in itself?

How can so many laws be ignored to uphold 1 law?
How can crucial evidence be ignored?
How can an obvious criminal act be ignored?
How can perjury not be a crime?
Why was my judicial process so one sided?

Anybody and everybody around the world who takes 5 minutes to read my case evidence comes to one conclusion….That I am innocent

Here are some facts:

1.Bank confirms that cheques were NOT Valid for payment partly
becuase they were stopped by the police and therefore never BOUNCED

2. Police report filed against the complainer

3.Audit Trail Showing money to the seller with bank receipts and proof of payments

4. Transfer Document showing that the buyer had requested to transfer property into their name

5. Valid Agreements and MOU’s

6. UAE Commercial transactions Laws that protect business transactions are being ignored

7. The intent has to be there to break the law, if the evidence
proves that no intent was there then why is it that the judicial system
has labeled me a criminal?

I for one agree that if you break the Law then you should
understand the consequences, but if I did not break the Law then why am
I in jail?

We can prove that Penal Code 401 was not broken since the bank
never cashed or bounced the cheque but instead returned them as
invalid, but no-one wants to listen because apparently it’s too late!
Me and my family were repeatedly told to rely on the courts process ,
our lawyers and the appeals system! We placed our trust in the system
but there has been a misacarriage of justice and I am hoping the Dubai
Authorities will investigate and bring the real criminals to the stand.

I am asking the authorities that govern the judicial system in the
U.A.E to review my evidence, please speak to my family, my legal
representatives and question the complainants.

I ask the courts to
question Nakheel and Emirates NBD and check all the financial
documentation and Agreements.

Dubai is a beautiful Emirate and it has achieved so much.
Your vision, I shared. Your values I shared, but today 3 innocent men
are behind bars and the trust I placed in the judiciary system has let
me down.

The system has been manipulated and abused by criminals and
they have gotten away clean and free!

Please Dubai stand up for justice and free Dubai from those
who abuse it’s laws and falsely imprison innocent people and punish
them severly for they are openly mocking the judicial system of one the
most popular, safest, multi-cultural and dynamic cities in the World,
which is governed by one of the greatest visionary Rulers!

Safi Qurashi was a successful property developer.Until he was convicted of bouncing $80 million in checks by a court in Dubai and was sentenced to seven years in jail recently. Now he’s begging Queen Elizabeth to save him, the Evening Standard reports.

Queen Elizabeth arrived in the UAE yesterday on a state visit, and Qurashi wants her to save him, since she happens to be in town.So he wrote the Queen a letter that has been published in the Telegraph UKHere’s what he writes in his letter:

My life took a dramatic turn on Friday 15th January 2010, when two plain clothed officers arrested me for bouncing a cheque and took me to CID headquarters. I was held for eight hours in a cell… No phone calls. No lawyer.There I was kept handcuffed to a chair for another 8 hours. No-one spoke English. I was asked two questions: myname and whether I signed two cheques. When I answered yes, I was sent to Port Rashid jail at 4am. I got a new lawyer who spent five minuteswith me. When I said surely he needed input from me, he responded “thisis not England, we do things our way”… There were two hearings eachone a minute long. Two questions were asked and I was sentenced: a seven year jail term. I realized that the judge had neither read nor reviewed any of the evidence. He did not establish whether I actually broke the law. A cheque bounced. Nothing else was considered.

Qurashi says his family, who he moved to Dubai from London six years ago, are suffering “mental torture” because of his imprisonment.

Investors can file a criminal case against a developer only if the reason for developer’s default is criminal in nature and there is evidence to
prove it, according to a lawyer.
“Investors can file a criminal case against a developer on the basis that it has not started a project and/or opened an escrow account, but
only if the reason for developer’s default is criminal in nature, and there is evidence to prove it on its face,” Ludmila Yamalova, Legal
Consultant/Partner, Al Sayyah Advocates & Legal Consultants, told Emirates Business.
Raza Mithani, Senior Associate, Al Tamimi and Company, Advocates & Legal Consultants, said: In Dubai, a criminal case may be filed
where there is evidence of fraud. Failure to open an escrow account may, depending on the circumstances, constitute evidence of fraud.”
Tatjana Fuhr, Legal Consultant at Fichte & Co Legal Consultancy and KK Sarachandra Bose, Partner and Corporate, Commercial and
Contract Lawyer, Dar Al Adalah Advocates & Legal Consultants, agreed that a buyer can file a case against a developer who has not
started the project and collected funds without opening an escrow account.

The Dubai Court of Appeal heard on
Thursday two cases related to Dynasty Zarooni in which the company, its owners and executive are accused of defrauding property investors of a total of Dh1.2 billion.

In the first case, the court, which was supposed to give a verdict regarding a request made by 36 investors for instating defrauding accusation, adjourned the case to September 23 for verdict as one of the three accused failed to attend the hearing. In 2009, the plaintiffs had filed complaints claiming that Dynasty Zarooni, the companys partner, CEO and managing director, Kabir Mulchandani, and its British executive, RG, had sold investors plots of land that did not exist.

The case was dismissed by the prosecution after reviewing a report handed in by a property market expert assigned by the accused.

The plaintiffs challenged the decision considering that flawed investigations were conducted.

Al Shaali and Company, representing the plaintiff, submitted in an earlier hearing his defence saying the prosecution combined non-related complaints filed to police against Dynasty Zarooni into one case and failed to investigate the property fraud.

In the second case, the 36 local and overseas investors appealed the acquittal sentence awarded in the favour of Dynasty Zarouni, is Emirati partner Hilal Zarooni ,CEO and managing director and executive on May 30.

The subject of this case was that the company and its officials have set up a bogus investment portfolio and promised them hefty returns and defrauded investors of Dh893 million.

They complained that KM received subscription fees of Dh300,000 a month from 12 members of the so-called “investment club” with a promise of hefty monthly returns six months after investing their money in real estate projects, which they claimed they did not receive.

They also claimed that there were no escrow accounts for projects they had invested in.

Besides, they complained that the accused made announcements regarding projects( Jumeirah Business Centre 6,7,8,9 or Ebony and Ivory Towers) contrary to reality. Some projects claimed to be in construction proved to be sandy lands.

The sentence of the Court of First Instance was based on a report presented to the court by the defence lawyer proving that investors had received more than Dh232m in profits.

Reporter on this story: Henry Meyer in Dubai at hmeyer4@bloomberg.net; The editor responsible for this story: Peter Hirschberg

Not long ago, British businessman Ryan Cornelius was living the high life, doing deals out of Bahrain and taking his family big-game fishing on his yacht and on safari in Kenya. He’s now into his third year in a Dubai jail cell, yet to be convicted of anything.“The worst aspect of the way we’ve been treated is the fact that the legal system seems to be so suspended in its own inefficiency,” he said from a pay phone at Dubai’s Central Prison. “We just don’t seem to move forward. The whole legal system seems to hold you in a state of constant suspension.”

Cornelius, 56, and six co-defendants have been charged with defrauding Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC of $501 million, one of the largest such cases in the history of United Arab Emirates. He says he did nothing wrong, and like others, foreigners and nationals, who profited in Dubai in the boom times, he waits in prison as the legal system slowly tries to separate the guilty from the innocent of those
arrested in an anti-corruption drive.

Dubai’s image as the Singapore of the Middle East, a global hub for finance and tourism, is being tested as it tries to clamp down on excesses such as fraud and over development, which came with an explosion of people and investment. Its judicial system still often has more in common with its regional neighbours than the Western nations that it aspires to emulate, say lawyers and economists who work there.

The government won’t say how many people have been arrested in the two-year campaign against financial corruption. Detained in Dubai, a London-based lobbying group, says several hundred executives may have been jailed.

Debtors’ Prisons In all, about 40 percent of the 1,200 people in Dubai Central Prison have been convicted of defaulting on bank loans, Human Rights Watch said in a report in January. Even after completing their sentences, the New York-based group said, prisoners are likely to remain in jail until their debt is paid off, unlike in the U.S. or the

The Dubai Cassation Court has issued a principle stating that failure to pay one commercial debt is sufficient to declare a company bankrupt.

The court has based the principle on the Commercial Transactions Law, which states that to declare a company bankrupt, failing to pay a number of commercial loans is not the provision, but failing to pay only one debt is sufficient as it implies a shaky financial status.

The law also allows the creditor of a limited liability company to ask the court to declare a company bankrupt if it fails to pay a mature debt.

The court issued this principle after hearing a dispute between two companies one of which asked the court to declare the second bankrupt, red seal it and appoint a judicial guard to manage it and preserve its money.

The company said in its complaint that it had obtained a judicial ruling regarding its entitlement for the credited amount of Dh921,000 in addition to the legal profits.

The court found that other creditors are asking for their money and for the seizure of the respondent company’s money.

The respondent company has no location and activity, which clearly proves that it will not pay debts upon maturity. The situation shows the shaky financial status of the respondent company, which subjects its creditors to a real risk that deems declaring it bankrupt.

The Court of First Instance had turned down the case. The Court of Appeal had also upheld the verdict of the Court of First Instance.

The Court of Cassation rejected the verdict and accepted to hear the case again.

The Court of Cassation said in its statement that the respondent company is still, and without any right, not paying commercial debts despite of their maturity. There are also seizure claims by other creditors filed against the company.

Besides, criminal cases were filed against its director for issuing bad cheques that landed him in jail.

The court cannot consider having the partner in jail as a reason beyond his control, but rather it was the result of a deed he has committed: signing bad cheques, the court debated.

All these are sufficient evidences about the shaky financial status of the company that subject its creditors to real risk, concluded the principle by the Court of Cassation.

source 7 daysSara Qurashi, 11, launched ‘Justice For My Dad’ in May after her father Safi, owner of Great Britain on The World islands, was sentenced to four years in prison for bouncing two cheques.

The father-of-three has now been given a further three years to serve behind bars for a third stopped cheque. The three cheques relate to a property deal with a Russian client and total dhs200 million. Qurashi denies any wrongdoing and says the cheques should never have been cashed. Sara said:

“My dad had lawyers and he believed justice would be done. But now my dad has been given a sentence of seven years in jail. So that’s why I am trying to help him.”

source The NationalDUBAI , June 16. 2010// The former chairman of Dubai Properties, a unit of Dubai Holding, has been released from jail after repaying Dh130 million in state funds.

Hashim al Dabal was freed after eight months in custody, the Dubai Attorney General, Essam Issa al Humaidan, said yesterday. Mr al Dabal had been held since being taken in for questioning in October on suspicion of taking illegal profits from property transactions.

The funds have been deposited in the Public Prosecution’s treasury and will be returned to the Dubai Government, which owns Dubai Holding. “Mr al Dabal was granted his freedom after he repaid the amounts he acquired through abusing his position and power,” said Mr al Humaidan.

The former Dubai Holding board member was the second executive to be released under similar circumstances under an amnesty law issued last December.

Omar bin Sulaiman, the former governor of the Dubai International Financial Centre, was freed on May 20 after repaying Dh51.5m obtained during his tenure.

While free for now, Mr al Dabal could soon find himself behind bars again. He may face charges with regard to more than 15 separate investigations being conducted by the recently formed Monetary and Public Funds prosecution, which is headed by Ismail Ali Madani.

Charles Ridley, a Bahrain-based British businessman, is facing trial in the Dubai court system. He is one of seven people accused of defrauding Dubai Islamic BankDubai Islamic BankLoading… of more than $500m, charges which he denies.

However, Mr Ridley, standing in white prisoner’s uniform in Dubai’s court of first instance, can understand proceedings only when the translator relates a direct question from the judge, or when the testimony turns to English. Even then he has to overcome the poor acoustics of the wood-panelled court.

“I need a translator so I can understand what is going on,” Mr Ridley says.

The high-profile case is one of many inching their way through the system this summer as the government’s corruption investigation leads to court cases.

The fate of Mr Ridley and other defendants has given rise to increasing calls for legal reform of the Dubai judiciary, which Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the emirate’s ruler, has criticised as outdated and inefficient.

Also the sharp economic downturn in the city has prompted an increase in financial crimes, especially default, which remains a criminal rather than civil matter in Dubai.

“We need full legal reform to update all the laws, not just commercial but also criminal,” says Habib al-Mulla, a prominent Dubai-based lawyer.

“Part of the issue is people are facing prosecution and the laws aren’t adapted to financial crimes, and the judiciary can’t handle the situation if laws are still holding us back. The problem, though, is when will it be done?”

Mr Ridley’s unheeded call for a simultaneous translator would be simple enough for the courts to satisfy, but changes to other elements of the United Arab Emirates judicial system would need approval from the federal government in Abu Dhabi, the capital.

The issue has been thrown into sharper relief by the case of Abdulsalam al-Marri, a former chief executive of Lagoons, a property development, who was held for nine months before last week being acquitted of bribery charges.

Mr Marri is one of many executives caught up in the Dubai government’s anti-corruption investigation, which was launched last year. He feels aggrieved at having spent almost a year behind bars, during which he missed the birth of his twins, and his professional reputation is shattered.

“We trust our legal system, but the procedures were not right. We can’t sit in jail and then go to court,” says Mr Marri, who is likely to face an appeal from the state prosecutor.

According to lawyers who declined to be identified, one of the most important legal reforms needed in the UAE is prompt investigation and presentation of evidence against the accused.

They are also concerned about the freer rein extended to the state security services by the public prosecutor’s office, which they say is a change from a decade ago when the security services were on a tighter leash.

“The prosecution should have a maximum six months to prove their case and charge defendants,” says one senior lawyer.

In recent years, the internal security service has played a larger role in investigations of white-collar crime, especially those relating to government corruption.

Suspects detained by state security are frequently held for weeks, sometimes in solitary confinement and without access to legal or consular access, lawyers say.

Photo: Shahram Abdullah Zadeh CEO Al Fajer Properties 2008. The suit has challenged the transparency of the justice system of Dubai, which requires foreign investors to take on a UAE partner. Zadeh said he reverted to a civil action when prosecutors refused to file criminal charges against Sheikh Hasher Juma Al Maktoum and his son Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum

Shahram Zadeh CEO Al Fajer Properties Dubai, a longstanding Iranian expatriate in Dubai, says he was detained for two months last year. After extensive interrogation, Mr Zadeh was released without charge but has had his passport withheld.

Since then, the Dubai authorities have refused to accept attempts by Mr Zadeh to launch criminal proceedings against members of the ruling family over the ownership of Al Fajer Properties.

Al Fajer claims Mr Zadeh stole money from the company, but the courts are hearing a $1.9bn civil law suit filed by Mr Zadeh against Sheikh Hasher bin Maktoum Al Maktoum and two of his children ( the son, Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Malktoum and his sister Sheikha Maryam Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum) in which Mr. Zadeh claims they used the detention to seize the company illegally. He alleges that they were only sponsors and did not invest. They deny the allegation.

Sheikh Maktoum Hasher bin Juma Al Maktoum Al Fajer Properties in Dubai. Appointed by his father Sheikh Hasher Maktoum Juma Al Maktoum Mid March 2008 to the President of Al Fajer Properties

Lawyers say defendants should be allowed to have a legal representative present when they are being questioned, and police should stop sitting in on the weekly conversations lawyers are permitted to have with detained clients in the run-up to and during court hearings.

The public prosecution’s file of evidence should also be made available if suspects are detained for long periods before being charged and tried, the lawyers say.

Changes to the commercial courts – especially those that deal with the collapsed real estate market – are also needed, the lawyers argue. These changes could include cheaper fees and more efficient scheduling of cases, which at present can drag on for months.

But even if the city decides to overhaul criminal and commercial procedures, the matter is federal and therefore needs to be addressed by the government based in Abu Dhabi.

“In the end, Dubai can improve efficiency on the edge, but this will still be short [of what is required] unless they get the federal umbrella to change,” says one critic.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — In this Gulf city-state, two things have long been untouchable: business interests and the ruling family. However, an attempt to sue a member of the family over an alleged financial swindle is a sign of how much the economic crisis has rattled business as usual here.

Shahram Abdullah Zadeh accuses the brother-in-law , Sheikh Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum, of Dubai’s emir illegally of taking over his real-estate firm Al Fajer Properties and having him detained by police to help the swindle.

Zadeh, a 37-year-old Iranian national who has lived in Dubai all his life, brought a civil case against the brother-in-law and his son Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum to get his firm Al Fajer Properties back, a rare move. Even more surprising, shrahm Zadeh tried to raise criminal charges, but that step went nowhere because prosecutors rejected it.

The case has raised questions about whether Dubai really is what it claims to be: A boomtown where international businessmen can safely invest and turn a profit; or rather, a nest of cronyism and connections where royal blood can still trump entrepreneurial effort.

Such questions were largely ignored by everyone – businessmen and politicians alike – as long as the cash was rolling in during Dubai’s stunning expansion over the past decade. But now the emirate has hit the skids in the world financial crisis.

“During the boom, Dubai’s shortcomings were glossed over, but now that the economy is struggling, it’s becoming a different story,” said Christopher Davidson, an author of two books on the United Arab Emirates and a lecturer at Durham University in Britain.

Dubai’s emir, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, led the emirate’s vast financial ambitions. But business ran far ahead of the effort to modernize legislation in what remains a traditional Arab monarchy, where the ruler and his family hold final say.

Now the government has been trying to rein in some fast-and-loose business practices. About a dozen former executives are in custody for various investigations. Some have close ties to the government, but none of those in custody are related to the ruling family.

Zadeh’s case goes farther – breaking to taboo of questioning Dubai’s leadership. Zadeh says he’s a victim of a system in which the rulers can manipulate police and the courts to protect their business.

“If Dubai cannot provide security for foreign investors, they might as well switch off all the lights,” he said.

Attempts over the past weeks by The Associated Press to contact the brother-in-law, Sheikh Hasher Maktoum bin Juma’a Al Maktoum, were unsuccessful. Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoumand his company attorneys did not return repeated phone calls or respond to interview requests.

Zadeh and the Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Al Maktoum went into business in 2004. Foreigners are allowed to deal in property only after finding an Emirati sponsor to officially register a company. The usual practice is for the Emirati sponsor to give his signature for an annual fee or profit share. Several members of the sprawling ruling family are involved in such deals.

Zadeh set up a firm, Al Fajer Properties, and was chief executive while Sheikh Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum held the trade license. The firm was profitable and is now worth about $2 billion, according to Zadeh. But the partnership soured over delays in building a commercial tower, Juemirah Business Centre.

Zadeh said in an affidavit to Dubai’s attorney general that he was arrested in February 2008 and held for 60 days. He says he was never charged with any crime but was questioned over his business – including the combination of his safe.

While Zadeh was in detention, Sheikh Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum took over the company Al Fajer Properties by appointing his son Sheik Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum as chief executive, ousting Zadeh, according to Zadeh’s filing. When he was released, Zadeh says he found his office safe had been cleaned of documents showing he was the owner of Al Fajer Properties and Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoums partner.

Zadeh also says police tried to push him to sign a document saying he had no connection to Al Fajer Properties. He submitted to the court

Al Fajer documents listing him as CEO and transactions that his lawyers contend show he was the sole investor. The Associated Press was given a copy.

Sheikh Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum “thought he could do it all because he’s a Sheik,” Zadeh said.

Police refused to comment on whether Zadeh was detained. Shahram Zadeh says they continue to hold his passport and so far he has had little luck pushing his claims.

He submitted a criminal complaint but the attorney general refused to investigate, giving no reason.

Zadeh then filed a complaint directly to Dubai’s emir, who holds what is called the Ruler’s Court. Residents can bring to the emir what they believe are injustices unaddressed by the courts – from disputes over money to wrongful deaths.